Two shot at Central District bar, suspect dead at scene

A gunman shot his ex-girlfriend and a bouncer Sunday night in a Central District bar before a Seattle police officer shot and killed him, investigators said.

The gunman opened fire in the Twilight Exit about 10:15 p.m. More than two-dozen people were inside as he began firing.

He hit his ex-girlfriend in the legs, officers said. The bouncer, who is in his 30s, was shot once in his left leg after police said he tried to intervene.

Both bar shooting victims are expected to survive. The 25-year-old woman was in stable condition early Monday with multiple gunshot wounds; the man was in critical condition.

“As officers were arriving on the scene they went to the side door,” Deputy Chief Nick Metz said. “They were coming in, they saw the suspect coming out the door with a gun in hand. Officers loudly announced themselves.”

“The suspect lifted his weapon and fired one shot at the officers. Fortunately no officers were hit. One officer did return fire striking the suspect.”

Watch a video of Metz’s briefing below. Additional details about the suspect and officer who fired were not available Sunday night.

Officers were at the woman’s victim’s home helping her young child while she was at Harborview Medical Center, police said. It was not immediately clear if the suspected shooter was related to the child.

The Twilight Exit advertises Sunday night Karaoke and also is known for a food menu with items made in-house from scratch. The building, constructed in 1955, includes a game room with video games and shuffleboard and a patio that’s open seasonally.

The suspect shooting outside the Twilight Exit was the first Seattle homicide in 2013 and the first homicide since October.

Some counts, including this one and at least one preliminary department tally, include officer-involved shootings in annual homicide numbers, though a homicide that is determined to be justifiable is not reported to the FBI for uniformed crime statistics. Of the 26 homicides that happened last year, only one – the Sept. 24 shooting of Henry Lee Sr. was officer-involved. In that case, police said Lee had a gun and did not follow officers’ commands to drop it. Read more about that case here.